The Warm-Up: Strength and Conditioning
A standard Muay Thai fundamentals group warm-up consists of three parts: skipping, workout and partner ab finishers. The warm-up is formatted to prepare beginners for the blue short test while building on the foundations of senior-level students.
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FORMAT: 30-60 sec./1 min. per footwork
Alternate footwork (e.g. regular, single leg, single leg high knee, fast high knees, orthodox/southpaw stance, alternating knees, jacks, switches)
PURPOSE: Get students warmed-up and build their hand and feet coordination.
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FORMAT: 30-60 sec./20-30 reps per exercise or weapon combination. Cycle between stand-up/hybrid/ground exercises and weapon combinations.
Exercises
• Stand-Up: Jumping Jacks, Switches, Twists, Lunges, Squats, High Knees, Jump, Fast Feet
• Ground: Half/Full Sit-ups, Crunches, Side Sit-Up, Plank (High, Low, and Side), Push-Up, Rock Climbers, Duck Walk, Monkey Crawl, Crab Walk, Leg Raises, Flutters, Scissors
•Hybrid: Burpee, Sprawl
Combinations
• Single Weapon: punch, kick, knee, elbow variations
• Two/Three Hit Weapons: vary in range (long to long, short to short, long to short), in levels (head to body/leg, body to head/leg, leg to head/body) or type (punches + kick, elbows + knee)
PURPOSE: Build students’ strength, skill and athleticism
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FORMATS:
• Exercises: Sit-ups (Half/Full), Crunches (Reverse), Side Sit-Up, Plank (Reverse/Hollow Hold, High, Low, and Side), Push-Up, Rock Climbers, Leg Raises, Flutters, Scissors, Russian Twists, Toe/Shin Touch
• Work Division: 1 partner active rest + 1 partner active work, or both partners working and resting at the same time
• Rep/Sets: 50-100 total reps split between 3-5 sets, divided into pyramids (ex. 10-8-6-4-2, 50-40-30-20-10).
PURPOSE: Build camaraderie between classmates through shared challenge and support.
HOMEWORK: create a class plan for a full warm-up (45 min. total) 😊
